Tuesday, January 08, 2019

Lakeview cop honored as "Officer of the Month"

A 19th District (Town Hall) police officer was honored Tuesday as the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation’s “Officer of the Month” for his role in apprehending an armed robbery offender at the Belmont Red Line station.

Officer Timothy Kroski was working with other officers on a mission to suppress thefts from automobiles in Lakeview around 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 27th when they heard dispatchers announce an armed robbery had just occurred in the 3100 block of North Kenmore.

Suspecting that the offender might try to escape via train, Kroski and his two partners raced to the Belmont station, 945 West Belmont. Kroski went up one flight of stairs while his partners went up another set, the foundation said.

Kroski searched several train cars for anyone matching the robbery offender’s description. “As the doors began to close… [Krotski] reached into [a train car], forcing open the doors and grabbing the robbery offender, bringing him back onto the train platform,” a foundation spokesperson said.

Kroski’s two partners joined him and found a handgun in the suspect’s waistband. The victim’s property was still in the robber’s hand as Kroski pulled him from the train.

Xavier Lyons, 18, of the Grand Boulevard neighborhood was charged with felony armed robbery and misdemeanor possession of a pellet gun in the case, according to the police department’s Office of News Affairs.

“This highlights the good work done every day by Chicago Police Officers around the city who took more than 9500 guns off the streets in 2018,” the foundation said in a statement. “We are proud to make Officer Timothy Kroski our January Officer of the Month.”

Kroski has been a Chicago Police Officer since June 2016. He previously worked as a police officer in the city's Department of Aviation.